Interview: Rebecca Adams

Rebecca, please tell us a bit about yourself?

I am an artist based out of providence, ri, originally from Charlottesville, VA. I moved up to New England to attend Rhode Island School of Design, where i majored in photography. after school I transitioned into painting, but I have always remained in touch with my photography roots. my paintings are primarily black and white portraits, highly influenced by film noir.

What inspired you to begin your artistic career?

I have a lot of artists in my family , and always kind of knew I wanted to go to art school. I was very fond of black and white photography at a young age, and studied it in high school and into college. However, I always struggled with the technical side of photography, especially with the transition into digital media. After that I began painting on my own, and then started shooting my own subjects and painting from those photographs.

What do you do when you’re not using your creative brain?

I work part time at a small design boutique downtown, and a little twin peaks-y bar at night called the Red Fez. I also spend time with my gigantic cat, eddy. but for the most part, I try and spend all my free time painting.

Do you have any favourite artists out there?

Theres lots of emerging artists I’m fond of at the moment; Winni Truong, Aaron Nagel, Vanessa Prager and Sandra Chevrier. Clearly, I’m drawn to different forms of portraiture in range of mediums and styles. I just bought a collection of Steve Keene paintings that I’m pretty excited about.

Who’s your personal style icon and why?

I don’t know that I have a particular style icon, but I think my attraction to black and white photography led to my love of vintage aesthetics. People have always told me I look like my paintings. When I was younger, I wore a lot of vintage clothing and painted from vintage stock photography. Now I tend to wear more simple clothes, a lot of black and white. You get the vintage film noir feeling in my new work more from the lighting and atmosphere rather than then dated hairstyles and clothes that were referenced in my older paintings.

Do you have a favourite piece of artwork?

Theres too much art out there to have a favourite! I have a favourite piece of my work I suppose…the last painting i worked on (Laura #1) is usually the one I’m most excited about. until the next piece…

Any exciting projects in the pipeline?

Nothing specific at the moment, just making as much work as possible and sending out applications! I will be featured in the next issue of New American Paintings #110 coming out in April, I always love seeing my work in print!

How do you see yourself in five years time?

Hopefully doing a lot of the same, just on a bigger scale. I just want to keep painting and showing my work. I’d love to work with more galleries across the country and be able to check out cities and venues on the west coast.